21 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way ^[a]of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ² And Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will ^[b]utterly destroy their cities. ³ And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they ^[c]utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called ^[d]Hormah.

⁴ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people ^[e]was much discouraged ^[f]because of the way. ⁵ And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this ^[g]light bread. ⁶ And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ⁷ And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. ⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.

¹⁰ And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in Oboth. ¹¹ And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. ¹² From thence they journeyed, and encamped in the valley of Zered. ¹³ From thence they journeyed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah,

¹⁶ And from thence they journeyed to ^[i]Beer: that is the well whereof Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

¹⁷ Then sang Israel this song:

And from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah; ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon ^[k]the desert.

²¹ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²² Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed thy border. ²³ And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel. ²⁴ And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. ²⁵ And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the ^[l]towns thereof. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon. ²⁷ Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say,

³¹ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³² And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took the towns thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

³³ And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ³⁴ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. ³⁵ So they smote him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land. 22 ¹ And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

² And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. ⁴ And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now will ^[n]this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the ^[o]face of the earth, and they abide over against me. ⁶ Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

⁷ And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. ⁸ And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Jehovah shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. ⁹ And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? ¹⁰ And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, ¹¹ Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the ^[p]face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. ¹² And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed. ¹³ And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you. ¹⁴ And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

¹⁵ And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they. ¹⁶ And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: ¹⁷ for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. ¹⁸ And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah my God, to do less or more. ¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more. ²⁰ And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art ^[a]highly favored, the Lord is with thee^[b]. ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found ^[c]favor with God. ³¹ And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. ³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: ³³ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob ^[d]for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴ And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also ^[e]the holy thing which is begotten ^[f]shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that ^[g]was called barren. ³⁷ For no word from God shall be void of power. ³⁸ And Mary said, Behold, the ^[h]handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; ⁴⁰ and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹ And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; ⁴² and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she that ^[i]believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord. ⁴⁶ And Mary said,

⁵⁶ And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.

Prayer for rescue from persecutors.

For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when he fled from Saul, in the cave.